Second Verse, Same as the First; Bulldogs Drop Close Game to Mercer in OverTime

40 minutes was once again not enough time to decide a winner as the Bulldogs drop a contested matchup to the Mercer Bears in overtime. In the first half, Samford held most of the control as star Bear senior Cummings got into early foul trouble and was forced to sit for a majority of the first half. The majority of the second half was throughly controlled by the visiting Bears, but the Bulldogs never allowed themselves to be defeated and tied the game after a pair of free throws by freshman A.J. Staton-McCray with 28 seconds left in the second half. The extra period was throughly controlled by Mercer as they outscored the Bulldogs 11-4. Samford has now lost their 15th straight matchup against the Mercer Bears; their last win against Mercer was all the way back on February 23, 2002, back when both programs were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Bulldogs shot the ball well in the first half, posting a 48.15% FG percentage, coupled with shooting 41.67% from beyond the arc (good for a 57.41% eFG). In the second half, the Bulldogs shot a better FG%, but only connected on 2 out of their 9 3 point attempts (good for a 54.55% eFG).

Samford did a good job limiting Bear star Cummings, holding him to just 13 points. Mercer was led by #2 Alvarez, scoring 23 on the night. Samford was led by Senior guard #10 Parks, with 18 points. Samford's undoing was committing 19 turnovers and committing 15 fouls. Mercer went on several runs during the second half, forcing the Bulldogs to play catchup for most of the final period of regulation.

The men will be back in action on Saturday where the Bulldogs will travel to take on the VMI Keydets (11-7, 5-6 SOCON) in Virginia. Tip off is set for 12 CT on ESPN+. Samford will return to the Pete Hannah Center on February 20th against the ETSU Buccaneers after traveling to Furman on February 17th

Video highlights and Coach McMillan's post-game conference, as well as stats from tonight's game and season stats can be found by visiting Samfordsports.com